U.S. breast cancer rates dropping

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. breast cancer death rate is dropping at more than 2 percent per year, in a trend that dates back to 1990.

However, a report by the American Cancer Society -- Breast Cancer Facts & Figures 2007-2008 -- found that African-American women and women of other racial and ethnic groups have benefited less than white women in the drop in breast cancer.

From 1995 to 2004, female breast cancer death rates declined by 2.4 percent per year in whites and Hispanics/Latinas and by 1.6 percent per year in African-American women. It was unchanged among Asian-Americans/Pacific Islanders and American Indians/Alaska Natives.

In 2004, approximately 2.4 million women living in the United States had a history of breast cancer. In 2007, approximately 40,460 women are expected to die from breast cancer -- only lung cancer accounts for more cancer deaths in U.S. women.

From 2001 to 2004, breast cancer rates among white women declined at an average rate of 3.7 percent per year, likely due to lower rates of mammography screening as well as decreased use of hormone replacement therapy. Breast cancer incidence rates for the same time period remained relatively stable among African-American women, perhaps due to decrease in mammography and lower use of hormone therapy, the report said.